Talk:Main Page
Main Page Some time ago, we moved our front page from the wiki software default "Main_Page" to "Muppet_Wiki" in order to help out with our Google search results. The tricked worked, but we made the change at a time when the wiki had been around long enough for lots of sites to have kept their links coming to us as Main_Page. All this time later, and we have a mix of incoming links between muppet.wikia.com, /Main_Page and /Muppet_Wiki, which is confusing Google as to what our home page is since they both look alike. In an ongoing effort to fix this problem, Danny and I discussed creating the hard redirect you see now on Main_Page. We're hoping this tells Google's robots that Main_Page is not the same as Muppet_Wiki and that our search results will improve again. Please update your bookmarks accordingly, and if you see a website or a blog linking to the old address, please politely ask them to update the link as well. Thanks. —Scott (talk) 14:45, 1 April 2008 (UTC) Wikia Blogs This wiki is included in our new Wikia Blogs feature. To get involved, just add snippets of this wiki's best articles to MediaWiki:Blog snippet each day and that content will appear on the Wikia TV Blog. Please see Wiki to blog for an introduction and Wikia Blogs for a list of wikis involved in this. Angela talk 00:55, 9 May 2007 (UTC) Good Catch That was quite a shock when I saw that image on the main page, Good catch to whoever changed it back so quick -- Warrick 19:06, 29 March 2006 (UTC) :Twas me. And since I can't delete pictures, I saved a Kitty over the pictures he uploaded!!! --Nate Radionate 19:09, 29 March 2006 (UTC) :::LOL! Just saw it! -- Warrick 19:18, 29 March 2006 (UTC) ::::Hey, you know you're big time when people start vandalising your main page. We're a success! -- Danny Toughpigs 19:28, 29 March 2006 (UTC) :::::I'm sure you would have loved his picture too Danny. And mine for that matter! One was a studly man, the other an adorable kitten! Gotta love the vandels for giving me a little crack up time! I'm sure he was a little shocked to see his original picture changed on his second vandel attempt --Nate-- Radionate 19:30, 29 March 2006 (UTC) ::::::Shucks, I done missed the porn. Was it swell? --Peter Pantalones 19:31, 29 March 2006 (UTC) :::::::Aw, man. Luckily, I have my own studly man and adorable kittens here at home. -- Danny Toughpigs 19:32, 29 March 2006 (UTC) ::::::::No Peter. It was loser porn. We gotta get a real vandel 'round these parts one day. And don't rub in your happy homelife Danny! ;) --Nate-- Radionate 19:34, 29 March 2006 (UTC) :::::::::You're right. That porn was hella lame. --Peter Pantalones 20:08, 29 March 2006 (UTC) ::::::::::I go eat lunch and miss the second round. How funny! --Nate Radionate 20:10, 29 March 2006 (UTC) :::::::::::I don't know if you noticed, but she responded to Nate's edit summary. Nate wrote "reverting again, this is fun", and when the vandal came back, she put "I'd better keep doing it then!" in her edit summary. :::::::::::So that's a clue for us that we shouldn't address the vandals, or comment on their vandalism, because it encourages them. That's why we have a template -- and I just revised the template, to make it even more basic. The vandal psychology is that she'll keep going, as long as she can attract attention. So anything that we do to give the vandal attention just encourages her more. :::::::::::The only response that a vandal should ever get from us is: Revert the page, with no comment. Block the vandal's account. Leave the vandal template on her user page and talk page. And that's it. -- Danny Toughpigs 20:17, 29 March 2006 (UTC) ::::::::::::Aye Aye! I learned something today! --Nate Radionate 20:19, 29 March 2006 (UTC) :::::::::::::Cool! You did great catching her. -- Danny Toughpigs 20:24, 29 March 2006 (UTC) ::::::::::::::And it just happened again. It's not hard to keep blocking and reverting and deleting, but it is tiresome. If it happens again, perhaps we should consider a temporary protect? Danny, you and Scott are the only ones who edit the main page anyway outside of current events notices, and it wouldn't have to be permanent. Just a thought. --Andrew, Aleal 22:47, 29 March 2006 (UTC) :::::::::::::::Yeah, that's a good idea. I don't like protecting the main page, but this vandal is persistent. -- Danny Toughpigs 22:49, 29 March 2006 (UTC) How Many Colors? I think the first big question is how many colors to use. First is no colors (such as Main Page 1 color off-white). The important elements are boxed with a slightly different background color, which tells us "this element is important". Next is two colors (such as Main Page 2 colors). The big box at the top has one color, and the section headings have a different color. In this case color is associated with function -- one color means "informational box", the other means "section header". And finally we have four colors (such as Main Page 4 colors). Each header has a different color, and each color now means a specific topic (light green means "Today on Muppet Wiki", yellow means "Current Events", etc). I'd personally argue against four colors. It starts down a path of color-coding that I don't see us having a use for. --Erik Ebrowne 21:23, 17 March 2006 (UTC) Wording of intro text I thought I should restart discussion of the design over here after reading Eric's note on Current events. Although the main changes in my inital proposition were with layout, part of the changes I later incorporated into Main Page 2 as a result of discussion were with the text, particularly the part starting "Muppet Wiki is a collaborative project". Part of the problem with "clutter" was that there was a block of text right in the middle of it. "Collaborative project" also doesn't exactly fill me with interest to start with - my eyes were drifting off by the end of the second line. As a result I condensed the block into two lines, which basically say the two important things: "We're doing this muppet database together" and "You can help, here's how". I think that people are unlikely to forget these two things. More importantly, if they don't stop reading then they are likely to click the FAQ to find out more. I also changed the "anyone can edit" to "you can edit" to make it more personal to the person reading it. Oh, and I used faded borders for the lower boxes rather than very dark, contrasted ones. What do you think of these ideas? Is there anything essential that is missed out in them? Laurence ''--GreenReaper(talk) 21:49, 16 March 2006 (UTC)'' :I understand what you mean about clutter, and I agree that a large block of text can be daunting -- but I don't think three sentences are too much to handle. The purpose of that text is to be a little "hello" to new people, to shake their hands, offer them a drink, and invite them to take a look around. I think you need a few sentences to achieve that goal. Your short version seems more like, "Come in, here's your pen and paper. Get started!" If people's eyes drift away from the hello message, that's fine, cause then they'll drift over to the content and start browsing around a little, which is what we want them to do. I'm happy with the text as it is. -- Danny Toughpigs 03:27, 17 March 2006 (UTC) ::Yeah, I don't think a couple of lines is too much for people to handle. I like to not underestimate folks too much. That said, I like the idea of making "Check out our Muppet Wiki FAQ to help you get started!" start on its own line. What do you think?--Pantalones 15:01, 17 March 2006 (UTC) :::I think that creates unnecessary extra space at the top. The "Muppet Wiki FAQ" link is already bolded, I think it stands out well enough. I want that bit of text to be there as a hello, but I also want it to get out of people's way. After you've been to the Main Page more than once or twice, that text essentially becomes wallpaper to you, which is the way it's supposed to be. -- Danny Toughpigs 16:02, 17 March 2006 (UTC) Talk Page Archive *Muppet Wiki Talk Archives